VOSD Podcast: Softball Star Maggie Balint Throws Heat

By Nate John, the Voice of San Diego

December 30, 2022

Maggie Balint was a star pitcher for San Diego State University last year and led the school to the Women’s World Series. She was the Mountain West pitcher of the year.

In softball, at all levels, a dominant pitcher can lead a team quite far. All things equal, the team with a better pitcher is much more likely to win.

In Maggie Balint, SDSU found a dominant pitcher. But she transferred here from Oregon after injury, depression and broken promises led to a rethinking of the relationship she had to the sport, academics and her own identity. This week on the VOSD Podcast, Balint talks up softball and sports with host Scott Lewis.

College athletics are transforming right now, as Balint explains in this episode. Players can make money on their names and transfer to new schools much more easily than before. People can gamble on their play and the long-term consequences are yet unknown.

Balint saw much of this change first hand. She came out of a dark place after that career-seizing injury to became a star in San Diego. Balint and Lewis talk about all of that, what it was like to be a standout young athlete and the intensity of youth softball — especially on the West coast where it’s year-round and the kids don’t stop.

Listen: Apple | Spotify | Google

Voice of San Diego is a nonprofit news organization supported by our members. We reveal why things are the way they are and expose facts that people in power might not want out there and explain complex local public policy issues so you can be engaged and make good decisions. Sign up for our newsletters at voiceofsandiego.org/newsletters/.